I have been unable to download virus updates. A poster with the same problem says he had to make changes in Zone Alarm. quote "I found I had to add db.local.clamav.net in order for the update to work. I did, and it worked. " Can someone please explain how / where I make this change in Zone Alarm?

Chris

Hi

Can't be much help to you Chris, but can offer the following: -
I have been having the same problem (Clamwin update failure), and there does seem to be some issue between Zone Alarm & Clamwin 88.5.

I have found that Zone Alarm had retained permissions for Clamwin 88.4 in program control, and 88.5 did not generate a new request for internet access.

Having removed all entries for Clamwin in Zone Alarm, uninstalled Clamwin, and deleted any remaining folders / files, I then re-installed 88.5.

Still no new access request was generated by Zone Alarm when Clamwin tried to access, and the update process still failed. Turning off Zone Alarm allowed update to proceed. (NOT GOOD!). Examining Zone Alarm access permissions showed that this time Clamwin 88.3 had been granted permission - though not by me!
Interestingly although Clamwin's preferences specify daily Internet updates - and mine has been updated manually today, it still appears to be trying to get on-line to perform another update.

So - I would also be interested in how to ensure that 88.5 is added to Zone Alarm, as I have failed to discover how to do this. I might add that my Zone Alarm has just been updated too, so maybe something has happened there.

Regards

Thanks for your response. However, due to this so far unsolved problem I have now abandoned ClamWin and replaced it with Avast!

Chris

It's been a while since I used Zone Alarm, and I don't have it around now, but seems to me that you can configure it to one of three defaults when a new program attempts to contact the Internet: ask you what to do, deny it access, or to give it access. You might check to see what default you have selected. Sounds to me like you have the deny default, and you should set it to ask.

ClamWin (and ClamAV) have only been around a couple of years, and they are about where the commercial antivirus products were back in the late 1990s. With your help/support, they will provide you with a viable free alternative to the increasingly expensive, increasingly resource hogging antivirus/security products that are increasingly out of touch with their users. Use and help to improve it with your comments/suggestions.

As an example, Zone Alarm (with antivirus) dropped support for my Win98 computer. That's why I went to ClamWin (temporarily alongside one of the eastern European AV/firewall programs that supports Win98).

Regards,

Thanks for the comments.

My present Zone Alarm settings are for "ask for access", which is my preferred mode - I can check exactly what is trying to get on-line! I then give a permanent 'allow' if it is a program such as Clamwin that I know is scheduled to update regularly - so far 88.5 hasn't asked permission to connect.

My computer is running XP, and I have run Zone Alarm alongside Clamwin for 12 months or so, and have not had this problem until just recently. I think it begun after I updated Zone Alarm, but not immediately after.

Regards